Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

A Dedicated Mother

My wife always called my family the Cleavers or the TV family and although I never thought about like that, I suppose she is right. We had nightly dinners around the dining table with the television off, no matter what. Mother was a housewife who stayed home to raise her family and other than church, we were her life. As a kid, I thought she was boring when I compared her to some of the other mothers I knew who had jobs and stories to tell about work. I understand now that she stayed home not because she wanted to but because she wanted to be there for us.

I remember a time when a friend and I got into trouble at school and ended up being suspended. Sitting in the Dean's office I told my friend that I wished there was some way that mother wouldn't find out what I'd done. He said I was crazy because he would be in for a beating from his mom and he knew I wouldn't even get a spanking from mine. What my friend didn't understand was my punishment would be much worse because I would have to see the disappointment in my mother's eyes. I'm sure he thought a spanking hurt but I'd rather that than to cause my mom pain.

It's hard to believe my mother's been gone for over twenty years now, and although my children got to know and love her, I wished she could have known my grandchildren and they her. My youngest daughter, a working mother, tells her daughters about time spent with grandma, of special waffles for breakfast before church, or baking bread. She tells them about a woman whose heart was filled with love for her family and of the joy of being around her. If somehow I could just talk with my mother one more time it would be to tell her I was proud of her, something, I'm ashamed to say I never did when she was with us.

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